The Beginning of the End
by Jennifer9Ann
Summary: This story is about the last episode of the series, The Walking Dead, with a surprise and twisted ending.
_"This is an announcement from The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. If you are hearing this, we have found a cure for the outbreak of the walking dead. If you can hear this, come to our headquarters to get the medication and help save those who can still be saved. This is not a false alarm. If you are hearing this, we have found a cure for the outbreak of the walking dead. If you can hear this, come to our headquarters to get the medication and help save those who can still be saved. This is not a false alarm."_

Rick happened to be driving to get supplies when he heard this on the radio. Confused, he had to think about it for awhile. They have been tricked into things like this before, he shuddered at even thinking about Terminus again. How does he really know that this was the CDC's message on the radio? Rick was growing tired of living this way. Killing walker after walker, fighting for their lives, and killing the living too… it needed to end. It had to. He would discuss this with Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, Carol and Michonne. He had hope, he had a feeling that this was the beginning of the end.

"Did you get those diapers I asked for?" Maggie asked Rick.

"Yeah I found some, hey we need to have a council meeting tonight. I heard some big news on the radio in the car," Rick replied.

Maggie looked concerned, "Alright thanks. Is it bad news?"

"I don't really know yet."

Maggie knew that that was all Rick was going to say about the matter until tonight. She had to go change a poopy diaper anyways. Her beautiful baby girl, Beth, was already 8 months old. She couldn't believe how fast time had gone since she gave birth. It was a struggle to have a baby during these times. Maggie was tired of living in a world full of death all around them. She wanted Beth to grow up in a new world where she wouldn't have the constant nightmares that Maggie struggles with. She had experienced so much loss that she hopes Beth never has to experience it in her life too. Her and Glenn could find a nice home to live in and grow old together, not worrying about someone or rather, something, trying to kill them all of the time. Maybe Rick had good news, maybe he would tell them that it was the beginning of the end.

After Maggie was finished cleaning Beth, she went to find Glenn to tell him about the meeting tonight. She knew exactly where he would be, out on the roof of their house, making sure Maggie and Beth were safe. He had been hardly sleeping and constantly worrying about the baby. He wanted to make sure nothing would ever happen to her. Maggie loved that about Glenn, the amount of care he showed to both her and the baby. But she still needed to convince him somehow that he needed his sleep every once in awhile. Maggie went up to the roof.

"Hey, Rick wants to meet with the council tonight so I was thinking Carl could take care of Beth tonight while he watches Judith. He has big news for us apparently," Maggie called out.

"Are we sure Carl can take care of Beth? I mean he is only 16 and he has one eye so can he really 'watch' her you know? I don't Maggie, I mean he is a boy and—"

"Glenn, it will be fine. He has watched Judith for years now. He can certainly watch our baby girl for a few hours. I love you but you are worrying too much," Maggie replied.

Glenn shook his head, "I don't know, Maggie. I just can't ever lose her, you know? You and Beth are my everything. I want us to make it. I know we can."

"I know we can too. And in order for us to do so, we have to meet with Rick. I think he heard something from the CDC. I have a strong feeling it's good."

"Ok, Carl can watch her. But I'm letting him hold on to my Beretta if anything should happen," Glenn stated.

"Whatever you dork," Maggie couldn't help but smile.

"Alright guys, I heard some news on the radio this morning and the people claimed they were from the CDC. They said they found a cure for the walkers. But it was weird, they said 'help save those that can still be saved' and I'm not sure what that means. I am calling this meeting tonight to see what you guys think. We don't want another…Terminus…situation to happen again and for all we know, this could either be a trap or the real deal," Rick started out.

"I say we go," Daryl stated.

"We are not far from their headquarters, I'd say probably 50 – 100 miles away from it. But, didn't the CDC explode the last time we were there?" Carol asked.

"That's why I am skeptical. Maybe they built it back up?" Rick replied.

"No. There is an underground area that was maybe not destroyed by the explosion. I remember the scientist telling us about it. Could it really not be destroyed though?" Glenn inquired.

"We have a decision we need to make. I don't know who or what is out there anymore. We have been through a lot and we know the risks that come with our decisions. I say we take a vote. Does anyone else have anything to add?" Rick knew what to say to get the group motivated.

"What do we have to lose? We live in danger every day anyways, why not try to find something that might end all of that?" Michonne stated.

Michonne had been waiting for this day. She was tired of the constant killing and having to fend for herself. She wanted to start a new life. She wanted to see where things would go with Rick, Carl, and Judith. She could picture a future with them and it made her happy. Maybe this was the beginning to a new life and the beginning of the end of the old one.

"I think we are all in agreement on this one," Carol implied.

Rick looked around at each member of the group. Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, and Carol. "Alright. It's settled then. We are going to Atlanta."

"Wow. It's really still there. I thought that explosion knocked out the entire place!" Glenn exclaimed.

Rick began, "We need to be careful. We don't know what these people really want. Now I want Glenn and Maggie to go in first. Carol and Daryl stay outside until I come back to get you. There might be people watching us right now. Carl you'll stick with me and we will back up Maggie and Glenn. Michonne, try to find another entrance so that we aren't caught off guard. Everyone be careful. We can do this. Let's go."

Maggie and Glenn went in first. They didn't know what to expect. As they entered the door, they heard talking and laughing. They looked at each other and knew what they had to do. They entered the room with their guns up and ready to fire. The people they saw looked weak. Unarmed and obviously not expecting company, they began to panic. They raised their arms up and started to back away. Maggie knew that they were harmless but Glenn had not lowered his weapon, so she didn't either.

"Who are you?" Glenn asked. "Do you really have a cure for this disease? We heard your message on the radio."

"W—w—we work for the CDC and we really found a cure. Please lower your weapons…we aren't here to hurt you. You can even keep your weapons. We just want to end this all," the man closest to Glenn replied.

Glenn glanced at Rick. The fact that they could keep their guns was a good sign. It was hard to trust someone if they insisted on taking their weapons. They felt safer that way. Rick nodded at Glenn. They had to trust these guys, it was their only hope. Glenn lowered his weapon and the rest followed suit.

Rick began, "Ok. We are going to do this our way. If that is ok with you, we will help you. I'm Rick. This is Glenn, Maggie, and Carl. We have a few others outside – Carol, Daryl, and Michonne. We need you all to explain to us what is going on."

"Nice to meet ya, Rick. I'm Evan. This is Paul, Jeremiah, Allison, and Kate. We have been working for the CDC ten years before this mess occurred. When the outbreak happened, we all weren't at work that day for various reasons. For years, we were afraid to even go outside to get back to the CDC. Jeremiah got here first and noticed that the CDC had been destroyed. We aren't sure what exactly happened there but we assume it was for good reason…"

Rick contemplated telling Evan what exactly happened here at the CDC years prior. He decided against it. He needed to hear Evan's whole story.

"…Paul was second to make it to the CDC and then me. Allison and Kate got here together afterwards, they are roommates. We were worried for some time that Kate got bit because she had a weird rash on her arm but it turned out that she was allergic to a certain spider bite that we were able to treat right away. Ever since then, we decided we were going to find a cure for this disease. We had to find ways to trap the biters. Once we did that, we had to bring them in and test multiple ideas out on them. We tried everything. From the ebola virus to heroin to orange juice – we injected loads of crap into those suckers. Finally, one marvelous day, we decided to try real living human blood. We thought it wouldn't work because so many of them had eaten blood. However, our digestive system does not lead to blood being directly transferred into our veins. So then we began to think that maybe if we injected the blood directly into their veins, something else would happen. And we were right. But it was weird, it only worked for a few of the biters. We watched them actually go from walker to real human again. It was quite strange. And they did not handle it well. We developed a system where they could easily clean themselves and calm down from the trauma they just realized they went through. You wouldn't believe how many of them ralphed after we told them what they were. We wondered for some time why it only worked for half of the biters. We noticed that it only worked for biters who looked in better condition than the rest. That's when Allison figured it out. The injections only work for the biters that have been bitten, but have never actually died. You see, people were turning even after they died and obviously it is impossible to raise the dead (although anything is possible after this outbreak, but that's what we believed). So those people who didn't actually die, but turned into a biter after the poison entered their system, were able to be saved. Because they never actually died. We have injected many biters. And now we send out the announcement every half hour to try and find help. And you guys know the rest of the story I guess."

By this point, Daryl and Carol had come into the CDC. "So you're saying that not all walkers can be cured and in order to cure them, we have to inject them in a vein with human blood…" Daryl couldn't believe it.

"We know that it isn't the most ideal situation, but there are many 'walkers' as you call them, out there that have only been bitten. Sometimes it is hard to tell because some people have died from natural causes. But it doesn't hurt to try. And we produce blood everyday. Which is the beauty of it all really," Kate replied.

Daryl was still unconvinced. It seemed too simple. Why didn't anyone think of it sooner? Daryl didn't trust most people. And he certainly didn't trust these people. He would have to talk to Rick about it, of course. But he knew that Rick would make the best decision for the group. Deep down, he wanted to trust these people. He wanted this to be the beginning of the end. Even though he enjoyed the hunt, he was growing old and tired of the constant battle for his life and for the life of others.

"Thank you for your honesty. Our group will have to discuss this over and we will get back to you," Rick declared.

Evan looked at Rick, "Would you like to see a biter transform back into a human?"

The group already knew the answer to that one.

"Alright, so we have a few walkers cooped up back there," Jeremiah pointed to a room in the very back, "and we are pretty sure they have not actually died. Now, would anyone care to donate some of their blood? It's kinda funny, we used to donate blood to save lives and now the meaning of 'saving a life' has come a full 180."

"You can use mine," Glenn answered, "I used to donate all of the time."

As Glenn was giving blood, the group was excited and nervous to see this transformation. It was finally happening. Carol was most excited. She had learned the most through this "experience." She wanted to be able to tell the next generation of this world what happened and how she survived. She was secretly proud of everything that she had accomplished. She did worry, however, that once this was all over (if they got to that point) that the group would go their separate ways. She had become the mother of the group and loved each and every one of them. She never wanted to lose them. But this could be the beginning of the end of a lot of lives and she was ready for that.

"Thanks for your generous contribution, Glenn. Now here's where the real magic happens," Jeremiah stated.

He took Glenn's vial of blood and used a syringe to prepare the injection. The next phase was tricky. They had to get the walker onto a table and tied down tightly so that there were no sudden movements. Rick volunteered to help because he knew how to handle walkers, he had been doing so for quite some time after all. Rick and Jeremiah went to the backroom.

"How many of them do you have in there?" Rick asked.

Jeremiah thought for a second, "I'd say probably five or six. And they aren't chained or anything…we just throw them in there and lock the door quickly. We use these grip extensions to hold them by the necks. I'll let you do the honors."

Rick wasn't worried, but he liked having backup and no one was with him except for Jeremiah who looked like he never killed a walker before. Rick still had his Colt Python Magnum revolver and was ready to use it.

Jeremiah began to open the door. The walkers all came at once. Rick began to panic. He grabbed the first walker with the gripper. But they were all huddled together that Jeremiah couldn't close the door to trap the rest of them back into the room.

"Jeremiah, run for the main entrance! I'll handle this and tell my group to come help! Go, NOW!" Rick barked out instructions, like usual.

Jeremiah took off running. Rick was still holding the walker with the gripper. With his free hand, he took out his revolver. Jeremiah was wrong. There weren't only five or six walkers, there were at least twelve of them, and they were all headed for Rick. He hoped that Glenn and Daryl would be coming real soon. He shot at the first walker, hitting him right between the eyes. Two more were coming towards him. He shot one but the other one got too close. He had to fend it off by pushing it away. He could only push it so far though. Three more came around the other side, the side where Rick's hand was holding the gripper that held the walker he caught at the beginning. Rick had to make a decision, and fast. He decided to let go of the walker and start to run. Finally, he saw Glenn and Daryl running towards him. Daryl instantly began shooting his bow at the walkers. Glenn ran up to them and started stabbing them in the head with the needle that was in his arm. Rick kept shooting. Within five minutes, they had killed them all, except for the walker that Rick captured at the very beginning. The gripper prevented it from walking straight at them.

Rick grabbed the gripper, "These people need to keep tabs on their walkers. And learn how to fight. Someone go find Jeremiah so we can see this thing go back to human. Ok?"

Glenn ran off to get Jeremiah.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, you are about to witness the beginning of the end to this world we live in currently. After injecting Glenn's blood, it will take about five to ten minutes for the change to occur. This lady, whoever she is, will freak out. So prepare for that. It is quite sad to see someone so disgusted and upset with themselves. Here we go," Evan proclaimed.

He began to inject the blood into the walker's vein on her arm. Then they waited for her to turn. Slowly they could tell she was gaining color in her arms and then her stomach. Her eyes went from a hollow look to sad, scared eyes. Her body became less restless. She started to breath. It was incredible. Everyone couldn't believe it, yet it was happening right before their very eyes. Finally the transformation was complete, and the woman started to panic.

"What happened to me?! The last thing I remember is….oh no…I was one of them wasn't I? Oh my…I got bit…I turned! But how… how am I alive right now? Oh no I ate…oh my…I think I am going to be sick!"

She looked frantically around the room, crying. Maggie went over to her to console her. Still in shock, the entire group just sat there, their hopes and dreams have come true. This was the beginning of the end. It was really happening.

…

Rick wrote up from his coma, his upper back still sore from the gunshot. _What a strange dream…_


End file.
